Control apparatus



K. A. SIMMON CONTROL APPARATUS .Filed July 7, 1920 Aug. 14, 1928.

WITNESSES: lNVENTOR {67W [far/1451292122012 '-ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 14, 1928 ITE starts;

Kim. A. simivioiv, or n'nenwoon ran-K l niin'srnvanra, nssrenoar'owns'rrnenousn nnnornro ,5: MANUFACTURING VANIA. I

Application filed July 7,

My invention-relates to control apparatus and it has special relation to overload trip devices for protecting electric railway motors or the like from excessive current.

One object of my; invention is toprovide an: attachment to' overload' tripsor jrelay devices of the prior. .art, whereby the number of, times that the] relay devicermay'bereset may be. predeterminedyeither to, indicate such movements or; to limit. the. number; of resettings and prevent further operation.

More specifically-stated, it is theuobject of lmy invention; to provide; a pawl-andratchetdevice that is associated with the resetting lever of an overload trip, whereby a predetermined movement ofthe ratchet is effected-upon each-resettingoperation, and such :movementmay be utilized to eventually effect interruption; of the resetting circuit.

It is often of ;val-ue ,t0. the maintenance department of anIeleGtric railway company tobeappraisedof the number of times that a circuit-breaker or overload tripisopened, that is of the numberof occurrencesof eX- cessive current conditions in. the driving motors. If an undulylargenumber of-oper ations and consequentresettings of the over load-trip occurs ina given time, it follows that either-amotor is; defective by reason of a: grounded,ci.rcuit, for example, or the overload tripis defective in the way of calibration, for example xor else the motorman is particularly careless or,;ignorant-'in his operation of the vehicle. In any event it is worth while to be provided with areliable indicator of the number of overload operations; and it may be desirable to automatically prevent further operation of thevehicle after a 'certain'number of such overload occurrences, in orderthat. the driving motors and. otherzsapparatus maybe thor oughly inspectedbefore the car is again put into service. c y It is thepurpose of my inventiomthere- Q fore, to. provide; a reliable device of the above-indicated character forrendering the desired information readily available to the maintenance-department; officials.- I

My invention may bestbeunderstood by reference to the" accompanying; drawing, wherein the single figure is a View, in front elevatioinof a c'on-trol apparatus organized in accordance withmy present inventiomthe neceaa I co r o. in vci, ui s e'n i. wry ntr 11 re t 101 g ndi practice.

GQM1?Ar-TY,- A' CGRPORATION on I PENNSYL-.

CONTROL APPARATUS. r

1920;. Serial in. 3 4,430.

cated diagrammatically for thesake ofsime plicity andclearness. I I Referring to. the drawing, the structure here shown comprises an overload trip or excess-current relay device 1' otfa familiar general form my indicating or limiting at t'achment 2, an encasingmember or box-3 whichIis provided with a lock and witha window, as subsequently set forth'in detail. and a manual resettingswitch at." r

The' overload .trip 1 comprises essentially an actuating coil '10, preferably/of heavy strap conductor, which is connected in the main motor circuit I (not shown) by means of aplurality of suitablelterminals' or sock ets 11 and 12 in accordance 'witha familiar In this way,'the main motor current at ,all times coillO. e

A- stationary core member '13 extends through the middle ofthe coil'lO and, in-

turn loosely surrounds-ajplunger pin or rod 141 whichis adapted to'be struck under overload conditions by a swinging armature 15. The armaturef15 is shown in solid lines in its upper position corresponding ;to" such. overload operation. but 7 normally occupies -traverses the actuating the lower position that it. indicated in dotted I lines.

The upper end of the. pin or red 14: is

adapted to carry one or more contact disks 16. which are suitably insulated from the rod 141 and the: lower one of: which is adapted to bridge a pair of stationary bolts, or

fingers 1.7. and 18in.theilliistrated upper or overload position of the relay device. The inner ends of-the .bolts or fingers 17 and 18 are suitablyysecured to contact" bars or strips19,v to the opposite ends of which are fastened a plurality-of contact clips or terannals-2Q and 21,.for a purpose to beset forth." 1 i V a A resetting coil ,25 .is 'located below the normal position of the .swinging armature 15 and woundaround asuitable stationary core memberQG which; in turn, is secured to abracket or supporting. arm 27. The swinging armature .15JlS1PlVOtZIllyJ mounted upon the bracket .27, asfl-indijcate'd by the reference character 28; and the bracket is suitably attached to the .encasingme'mber or box willbe understood.

I; 1n the illustrated overload or operated p0 when of the relayv device,the'switiiging ar mature 15 is initially attracted bythe mag netism caused by the excessive current in the actuating coil 10 to the upper position that is illustrated in solid lines, wherein the plunger pin 14 is struck and actuated to its illustrated upper position. Although the motor circuit is opened by this action, in

mediate point on a pin 30. The upper end of this latch engages the right-hand or free endof the armature 15, as illustrated, The

lower end of the lever 29 is located opposite the (core member 26 of the resetting device. Upon energization of the resetting coil 25, thelever 29 is attractedinto contact with the core member 26 to effect disengagement of the lever 29 from the arm'ature'15, which is thereupon actuated by gravity to its nor-' mal position, indicated in dotted lines.

Referring to my indicating and limiting device 2, the device icomprises apawl or spring finger35, the upper end of whichis attached by a screw 36 near the upperend of the resetting lever 29, while the lower or operating end engages a notch in a ratchet member 137, which" is pivotally mounted upon the pivotal pin 30 "for the resetting lever 29. A cam member or sector 38 is provided with a plurality of holes or apertures 39, whereby the cam member may be rigidly attached in the desired location to the ratchetmember 37 by means of a screw 40, or the like.

A lever member 41 is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends, one of which bears against the lower surface of the sector or cam member38 and to the other end of whichacontact finger or brush 42 is secured to make contact with a stationary bracket or terminal 43, for a purpose to be set forth. A helical spring 44 has one end attached to the encasing box 3, the other end being hooked to the lever 41 at a point between the pivotal mounting-point thereof and the contact finger 42., In this way, thelever v41 is biased to engagement with'the cam'member 38. I I

' The operation of my indicating and limit- 7 ing device 2 may be set forth as follows.

Each time that the resetting lever 29 is attracted toward the-core member 26 for the resetting coil 25,by .reason of the energization of that coil bythe motorma'n, the pawl or spring finger 35 carries the loosely-mountedratchet member 37 downwardly a dis tance corresponding toon'e notch. As soon as the resetting coil is de-energized, the

ratchet remains in'the newvposition, while the pawl member 35 returns to the illustratedor normal position, and, in this case,

therefore, engages the next notch in the ratchet 37. i

In this way, each resetting operation of e the overload trip after an operation thereof causes the ratchet 37 and the cam member 38, which is rigidly attached thereto, to move n a clockwise direction byan amount corresponding to the distance between notches.

position upon the ratchet 37. In this way,

after five resettings have been made, the lever 41 is no longer in engagement with the cam member 38 but is actuated by the spring 44in a clockwise direction to' interruptthe contact between thefin'ger'42 and the-termi nal 43. However, if desired, instead of limitingthe n'umbero'f resettings that may be made, dependent upon the initial relative position of the cam member 38and the. A

ratchet 37, such'number of resettings may be merely indicated. This result may be ob tained'by so positioning the cam member 38 upon the ratchet 37 that the final notch in the ratchet may be reached by the pawl member-'35 without effecting the disengagement ofthe cam' member 38 from the lever 41. By, countingthe notches traversed by the pawl member, reference beinghad to the accompanying figures, the number of resettings that have occurred since the last inspection'of the apparatus may ately determined. I i For the purpose otrendering the'appa be immediratus availablefor ready inspection and, at

the same time, free'from unauthorized tampering, the encasing member or box 3 is constructed as follows. The apparatus is enclosed on all sides, the box comprising two side walls 50, a top and bottom wall 51, a rear wall 52 and a front cover member 53 which is hinged or otherwisesuitably fastened to the remainder of the box. Opposite my indicating and limiting device'2, permitting a clear view of the ratchet member 37 is a glass window '54 that suitably set into the front cover member 53. Further more, at some suitablelooation, a lock 55 is providedfor the front cover member, and the key 56' is carried only by an authorized inspecton i I In this way, the indicating and limiting device 2"1nay be readily inspected at any time, but, after a certain number of overload luv 7 A tioned interruption oft-he resetting'ciiilfcircuit, the overload.trip'cannot be rendered operative topermlt moven ent of the vehicle except by "opening the door or cover 53 by means of the key 56 in thehands of an authorized person, Consequently, the "reason for the'unduly large number of overload operationswithin a given ti-me may be discovered by the maintenaiice department, before any serious injury to the equipment occurs, as previously pointed out.

,Theresetting circuit is of a simple type and needs only a brief description, After an overload operation of the relay device,

the motorman closes the switch a to establish a circuit from one terminal of'a battery 60, or other source of supply, through the switch 4, conductor 61, resetting coil 25, conductor 62, conductor 63, which is made fleX- ible to allow movement of the swinging lever 41, circuit being continued through the lever 41, contact finger 42, terminal 43, conductor 64, contact clip 20, contact bar 19, stationary contact fingers or bolts 17 and 18, which are bridged by the contact disk 16 in the illustrated upper overload condition, contact clip 21 and conductor to the opposite battery terminal. After suchaction of the switch 4, the switch is released, and, being preferably of the push-button type, as illustrated, is automatically returned to its illustrated position in readiness for the next movement.

I do not wish to be-restricted to the spe- .cific structural details, circuit connections or arrangement of parts hereinset forth, as

various modifications thereof maybe effected within the spirit and scope of my invention. I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. i The combination with a relay, of means for locking the relay to prevent operation and means manually operable to releasethe relay, and means for limiting the number of operations of the relay to any predetermined number. V

'2. The combination with" a relay and means forlocking the relay in operated position, of manually operable means for actuating the locking means to release the relay and adjustable means for limiting the number of times said relay may be released, thereby to limit the number of operations of the relay.

3. The combination with a relay, of means for limiting the number of operations of the relay, said means being adapted to lock the relay after each operation, means adapted for manual operation only to effect the re lease of the relayand adjustable means. for

limiting the number of operations of said releasing means. thereby to limit the number,

of operations of the relay.

4:. The combination with a relay device ia nd means for latching said devioeinbperfa'ted" 'positiornfl of eleetricalmeans for withdrawing said latc'hirig nieans to reset js'a'id device," and means dependent uponthe com- "pletion'ofa certain number of resettings for pern'oa'nently' interrupting the circuit tr said 7 electrical means.

" 5. The "combination with "a 'relay device and meansjfor latching said device in operated, position, of'lelectrical means for withdrawing said latchingi'neans to resetlsaid device, "means rendered activeiafter' a gi-ven number of relaytperanens for permanently interrupting the circuit of said electrical.

means, .and means ,for preselecting said number,

6. The combination with a relay device and means for latching said device in operated position, of electrical means for withdrawing said latching means to reset said device, a ratchet and a pawl respectively. loosely andrigidly mounted on said latching means, and means dependent upon said ratchet for permanently interrupting the circuit of said electrical means after a predetermined number of relay operations.

7 The combination with a relay device and means for latching said device in oper ated position, of electrical means for withdrawing said latching means to reset said device, a ratchet, and a pawl respectively loosely and rigidly mounted on said latching means, a cam member secured to. said ratchet, and a switching-memberfor governing said electric means biased tothe open position in opposition to the action of said cam member.

8. The combination with a relay device and means for latching said device in operated position, of electrical means forwithdrawing saidlatching means to reset said demeans only when the relay device occupies said operated position, and means dependent upon the completion of a certainnumber of resettings for permanently interrupting the circuit of said electrical means; 1

10. The combination with a relay device and means for latching said device in operated'position, of electrical means for withdrawing'said latching means to reset said device, a contact disk for energizing said electrical means only when the relay device has dependent upon said ratchet for permanent- 7 1y interrupting the circuit of said electrical "means after a predetermined number of relay operations.

11. The combinationwith a relay'device and means for latching said device in operated position, of electrical meansfor Wit-hdrawing said latching means to reset said device, a ratchet and a pawl respectively loosely and rigidly mounted on said latching'means, a cam member secured to said ratchet, a switching member for governing said electric means biased to the open position in opposition to the action of said cam member, and a contact disk for energizing said electrical means in conjunction with said switching member only when the relay device occupies said operated position.

In testimony, whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of J une, 1920.

KARL SIMMON. 

